[sdiy] LUMI keys

[Donald Tillman]

I gotta rant...

If learning to play a keyboard, or any musical instrument for that matter, is not a thoroughly joyful experience on its own, then you're doing it wrong, and no technological kluge is gonna help.

Sure, sometimes there's a barrier to learning, such as developing callouses or an embouchure.  That's not the case with a keyboard; you press the note and it plays.

And sure, there are cases where you have a larger barrier.  The string bass, for example, where your fingers bleed.  And the bagpipes, where the neighbors burn your house down.

But with musical instruments, like so many things in life, the journey is more important than the destination.  The reason people learn musical instruments is because the process is rewarding.

There have been a number of technology-driven learning guitars on KickStarter (GTar, Magic Instruments, etc.).  I don't know of any that have been successful.

  -- Don
--
Donald Tillman, Palo Alto, California
http://www.till.com


> On Jun 18, 2019, at 11:53 AM, charlie <charlie at finitemonkeys.com> wrote:
> 
> i was thinking of making something like this, where it'd be a midi
> something that laid over existing keys or just above it and it would
> project onto the keys rather than the keys being illuminated, so it'd
> work with more boards. i've seen ones that you layover and they light
> up but don't really project. obviously for the black keys it'd just be
> the devices illumination, or maybe some think acrylic to layover and
> edge light
> 
> 
> On Tue, 18 Jun 2019 at 10:41, Donald Tillman <don at till.com> wrote:
>> 
>> 
>> 
>>> On Jun 18, 2019, at 9:11 AM, Neil Johnson <neil.johnson71 at gmail.com> wrote:
>>> 
>>> Saw this on kickstarter:
>>> https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/playlumi/lumi-the-smarter-way-to-learn-and-play-music/
>>> Polyphonic aftertouch AND blinky-lights!
>> 
>> Everything old is new again.
>> 
>> The Thomas Organ Company had the "Color Glo" organ, probably around 1969 or so:
>> 
>>    Wikipedia: Thomas Organ Company
>>    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Organ_Company#Color-Glo_system
>> 
>> Heathkit offered a kit version.
>> 
>> Here's a TV advertisement for the Color Glo organ featuring Liberace:
>> 
>>    https://youtu.be/i_uGHWpbp68
>> 
>>  -- Don